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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29379900">pulled too tight</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/blurring_the_lines/pseuds/blurring_the_lines'>blurring_the_lines</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 [31]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Percy Jackson and the Olympians &amp; Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anger, Angry Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson), Arguing, F/M, Fights, Somebody asked for a part two, That Convo In BOO Needed To Be Talked About, This is probably why we can't have nice things, Unresolved, Unresolved Tension, it gets resolved</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 06:53:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,669</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29379900</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/blurring_the_lines/pseuds/blurring_the_lines</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>He remembers what it was like- being asphyxiated like that- his body screaming for air as his neck tingles from pain. How the only thing he could manage to think about was Akhlys and “It’s your specialty, right?” and more, more, more -<br/>..<br/>Jason’s shoulders tense, “Kym may have tricked you but she didn’t put you in the net. You did,”<br/>“No, I didn’t! I fell in!”<br/>“Did you fall, Percy, or did you jump?”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 [31]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2041193</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>82</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. tightrope of tension</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikeyfangirl811/gifts">mikeyfangirl811</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="">
  <p>Percy hears the footsteps outside of his room on the Argo before he hears the knock. A part of him wonders who it could be- Piper, Leo, Hazel, and Frank were all below deck, he’s not sure where Jason was, but he doubts it was him, and Annabeth was probably rifling through every plan in history, trying to make one that was fool-proof- while the other part lazily gets up and opens it.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Wise girl,” he answers, raising his eyebrows and not even bothering to hide the surprise in his voice, “I thought you’d be reading or something”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Hey, Percy. Can I come in?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He spreads out his arm, opening the door wider so she could slip past him.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I was reading,” she sighs, “But I needed to see you,”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He shuts the door and turns to face her, “Just can’t stay away, can you?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>His grin is replaced by a look of concern, though, as she remains serious, “What’s wrong? Is something bothering you?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Percy,” She hesitates, biting her lip, “I talked to Jason earlier today,”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Okay…?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Percy, he told me what happened. With Kym,”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Percy tenses. He’s not sure what exactly Jason had told Annabeth, but based on the look on her face, it’s not good.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“What did he tell you?” He asks, slowly</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“He told me how she,” Annabeth swallows, taking a breath, “How she choked you. With poison,”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>His eyes fixate on a spot on the floor- nowhere in particular just as long as it’s not on her eyes- the unspoken<em> just like you did in Tartarus</em>, hanging in the air, walking on a tightrope of tension. He remembers what it was like- being asphyxiated like that- his body screaming for air as his neck tingles from pain. How the only thing he could manage to think about was Akhlys and “It’s your specialty, right?” and <em>more, more, more</em> -</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Percy?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He snaps back to the present and unclenches the fists he hadn’t realized he had been digging his nails into</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Yeah. I’m here,” He says, his voice raw and raspy, even to him.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>She nods slightly, and it looks like she wants to go towards him, but that’s the last thing he wants her to do.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Is that all?” He asks, whipping the little crescents of blood on his palm onto his jeans.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>She shakes her head carefully as if she’s afraid she’ll break him if she moves too fast, “No. He told me about your conversation afterward. How you said you felt like-” Her breath hitches and he looks up at her, surprised, “How it felt like you deserved it,”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He’s at her side without another moment's hesitation, wrapping his arms around her as she presses her face into his chest.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“It’s okay, I’m sorry, I’m fine, ‘Beth,”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>She pulls away and looks up at him, “No. You’re not <em>fine</em>, Percy! That’s not okay!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He frowns again, “I am fine, Annabeth. That was days ago. It doesn’t mean anything,”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>She squeezes her fists at her side, clenching her jaw, “Don't do that, Percy,”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Do what?!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Don’t blow it off like you always do! Like it doesn’t matter-”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“It doesn’t!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“-because it does! Of course, it fucking does,” She scoffs, looking at the wall</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“What if it had been me?” She asks after a moment</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“What?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Instead of you, in that position, what if it had been me? And I said I felt like I deserved it? Would the roles be switched? Would you be talking to me like I am you?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He sighs because he knows she knows the answer, “Of course I would,”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Then how is it different? Is it because I can’t handle it?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“That’s not what I said, Annabeth, you’re putting words in my mouth,”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“And you’re avoiding the question! What’s <em>different</em>?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I don’t know!” He explodes, “Okay? I don’t know.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He’s lying and he knows it, but it’s easier than telling her that the feeling of rotting from the inside out plagues him like the nightmares and the fear of hurting Annabeth. Because he knows the difference. Like how he knows she’s scared of him and what he did <em>down there</em> will never be forgotten. By him or by Annabeth.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The difference is that it’s true- it wouldn’t matter if it was him, he <em>does </em>deserve it. She doesn’t.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>She seems to know he’s lying, too, because she narrows her eyes, “Bullshit, Percy. You know why. You owe me an explanation,”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I don’t owe you a Godsdamn thing,” he says, meeting her eyes</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Yes! You do! You’ve been distant. You’re always <em>tired</em>, you’re hardly around. We’re not playing pretend, Percy. We can’t just magically poof away our problems just because we don’t like confronting them. We can’t just ignore them,”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I know that,”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Do you?! Because it seems like that's all you’re doing. Ignoring them,”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“No, I’m not,”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Then stop acting like it’s not a big deal!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Stop acting like it is!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I’m not acting, Percy!” She laughs bitterly, “I feel like I’m walking on eggshells, here! You’re not giving me any answers!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I don’t have any!” He yells, “Okay? I don’t. And I’m sorry. I’m sorry I can’t give you what you want, I’m sorry I don’t have answers, I’m sorry you can’t solve me like one of your freaking puzzles! I’m sorry I’m not good enough!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I never said that,”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He scoffs, “You didn’t have to,”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Annabeth looks like she wants to say something, but she just closes her eyes and takes a breath, “This isn’t about me. This is about you,”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Is it? Annabeth, is it really?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Yes,” she snaps, “It is,”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I’m not the one who came in here looking for a fight!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“It wouldn’t have been a fight if you’d just talk to me. Please!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He grits his teeth and looks away, “I don’t have anything to say,”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Her expression hardens again, and she clenches her fists again, once, twice- as if he’s done something to personally offend her as if he was the one that started this- spins on her heel and, without so much as another uttered word, slams the door, leaving him alone.</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. silence seems to stretch</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>shorter chappie :)<br/>some people wanted the argument to get resolved. here ya go</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Percy thought he was done. He really wanted to just stay in his room all day while the argument blew over. But as soon as Annabeth had stormed out, he heard another knock at the door.</p><p>He internally groaned, opening it to a familiar blond, “Grace,”</p><p>“Jackson. Can I uh, come one?”</p><p>Percy nods, stepping aside as he walks past, “What’s up?”</p><p>Jason glanced at the door as if he regretted coming in, “We heard the argument,”</p><p>Percy closes his eyes, sighing, “All of it?” Jason nods as Percy flumps onto his bed, “Did you come to give me some lecture?”</p><p>“No. Uh- I just came to see how you were, I guess,”</p><p>Percy huffs, wondering what it would take to convince them he was fine, “I’m okay,”</p><p>Jason raises an eyebrow, unconvinced, “Really?”</p><p>“Yes. I'm good. Why wouldn’t I be?”</p><p>Jason gives him a look, “That argument was pretty bad,”</p><p>Percy scoffs, “It wouldn’t have happened if hadn’t told her,”</p><p>“Of course I told her, Percy! Why wouldn’t I have?”</p><p>“I don’t know, Jason, but it didn’t do anything,”</p><p>“Cause you didn’t talk to her! Or anybody!”</p><p>“There isn’t anything to talk about,” Percy grits</p><p>“Oh, there isn’t? What about what happened? What about how you got there in the first place,”</p><p>“You know how I got there,”</p><p>“Do I?!”</p><p>“Yes! Kym did it!”</p><p>“Don’t play dumb, Percy,”</p><p>He throws his hands into the air, “I don’t know what the Hades you’re talking about!”</p><p>Jason’s shoulders tense, “Kym may have tricked you but she didn’t put you in the net. You did,”</p><p>“No, I didn’t! I fell in!”</p><p>“Did you fall, Percy, or did you jump?”</p><p>Percy doesn’t answer, taking a breath. His silence seems to stretch between the two boys before finally Jason swallows “I saw you don’t there. You didn’t do anything. You barely struggled. You didn’t try to get out, you just took it,”</p><p>Percy glares at the ground, clenching his jaw, “Whatever, Grace,”</p><p>“No! Not whatever!”</p><p>Percy stands up and walks to the door, opening it, “You’re sounding pretty hypocritical”</p><p>Jason looks at him, “At least I told somebody,”</p><p>Percy spreads his hands out, “Well, lookie there, you got your wish! I told two people. Are you happy now!”</p><p>Jason just shakes his head, walking out. He stops in the doorway, not even bothering to look back at Percy as he says, “Just talk to Annabeth, okay?”</p><p>He pivots, and Percy stands there before closing his eyes. After a moment, he sighs, heading towards Annabeth’s room. He softly knocks, wondering if he should just turn and go back. But then Annabeth answers and it’s too late.</p><p>Her eyes are rimmed red, cheeks slightly flushed. He feels a pang of guilt shoot up his side, knowing it was his fault she’d been crying.</p><p>"Can I come in?” He felt the urge to whisper, even though it was the middle of the day.</p><p>She nods, walking back to her bed and he follows her, shutting the door behind him. They sit in silence for a moment before Percy looks at her</p><p>“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, I’m sorry I yelled at you, I’m sorry I was being such an idiot,”</p><p>Annabeth shrugs after a second, “We were both being idiots. And technically I yelled first,” </p><p>She meets his eyes and he wishes he could make her smile, “I’m sorry, too, Percy,” she grabs his hands, “I promise I’ll try to give you time. To set my pride aside,”</p><p>Percy swallows and wonders what he could’ve done to end up with her. He didn’t deserve her, “And I promise I’ll try to talk to you more often,”</p><p>Annabeth smiles and returns the gesture, laying down and pulling her towards him</p><p>“I love you,” he murmurs, pressing a kiss to her curls.</p><p>She hums closing her eyes and leaning into him, “I love you, too,”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>for those of you that didn't see i'm deleting my non-angsty/angsty one-shots, and just keeping them all in one series called 'collection' so that's it easier for me. sorry :/</p></blockquote></div></div>
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